London stocks were still firmly in the black by midday on Tuesday as worries about tensions between Russia and Ukraine eased.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 7,587.78.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “First signs that Russia may be pulling back from the brink of war is being greeted with a tentative sigh of relief by investors, with some sectors making small strides of recovery.
“As some Russian troops are reported to have begun retreating back to base from a number of key forward positions, the DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC 40 in Paris have climbed back strongly and the FTSE 100 also gained back some ground after Monday’s losses. But intense cautiousness remains about Moscow’s agenda and investors remain highly sensitive to the geopolitical situation.”
On home shores, figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that wages rose in the final quarter of 2021 as the Labour market withstood the end of furlough and the start of the Omicron wave.
Average weekly earnings including bonuses increased 4.3% in the three months to the end of December, the ONS said. Excluding bonuses, earnings rose 3.7%.
Nominal incomes rose in a tight labour market as employment rose 0.1 percentage point to 75.5% and unemployment fell 0.2 point to 4.1% – in line with expectations. The number or payroll employees rose 108,000 in January to a record 29.5m.
With consumer prices rising at 5.4%, real earnings dipped 0.1%. The Bank of England expects inflation to peak at more than 7%, resulting in the central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) raising interest rates at its February meeting for the second time in three months.
The BoE is concerned about rising wages causing further increases in inflation. Governor Andrew Bailey has urged workers to moderate wage demands though some economists have argued there is little prospect of a 1970s-style inflationary spiral.
In equity markets, AstraZeneca gained after it said cancer drug Lynparza used in combination with a common hormone therapy prolonged the life of end-stage prostate cancer treatments compared with the current treatment.
Glencore rallied after saying it would pay $4bn (£3bn) to shareholders as the company reported an 84% increase in underlying earnings, boosted by soaring commodity prices.
In terms of sectors, travel shares were among the top performers, having fallen sharply on Monday. BA and Iberia owner IAG, budget airlines Wizz and easyJet and travel firm Tui all rose.
On the downside, BHP fell despite saying it was handing back more than $7bn to shareholders in a record half-year dividend as soaring commodities helped the world’s biggest mining company post a jump in profits.
Plus500 also lost ground after the online trading platform posted a decline in full-year profit and revenue.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,587.78 0.75%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,837.87 1.02%
techMARK (TASX) 4,379.52 0.85%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 159.05p 4.64%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,704.00p 3.85%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 170.08p 3.20%
Rightmove (RMV) 641.80p 3.05%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,876.00p 3.03%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,339.50p 3.00%
Evraz (EVR) 324.40p 2.82%
Informa (INF) 625.20p 2.76%
Halma (HLMA) 2,390.00p 2.58%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,462.00p 2.37%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 643.20p -3.39%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,513.50p -2.87%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 10,930.00p -1.80%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,626.00p -1.68%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,851.00p -0.91%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,123.50p -0.71%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,810.00p -0.71%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,038.50p -0.57%
BAE Systems (BA.) 597.00p -0.50%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 785.00p -0.48%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,173.50p 4.22%
IP Group (IPO) 100.40p 3.93%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,495.00p 3.91%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 286.50p 3.88%
Hays (HAS) 148.40p 3.63%
Future (FUTR) 2,890.00p 3.44%
Coats Group (COA) 64.10p 3.39%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 153.00p 3.24%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 15.69p 3.22%
Indivior (INDV) 226.20p 3.19%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,426.50p -6.31%
Darktrace (DARK) 348.00p -4.08%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 234.00p -2.26%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 90.98p -2.17%
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 109.80p -1.79%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 196.20p -1.70%
Rank Group (RNK) 161.40p -1.59%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,020.00p -1.54%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 362.20p -1.52%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,750.00p -1.41%
